Mohan Bhagwat stokes controversy with Remarks

The Recent statement by the RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat which blamed the Brahmins for creating the caste system may have stoked controversy but is consistent with the Sangh’s doctrine regarding Hinduism. Bhagwat was criticized by the Shankaracharya of Puri as well as many others, but the fact of the matter is that time and again the RSS talks about how Hindus were one and the caste differences were man made and artificial. When the Mandal Commission report was implemented, it changed the entire political narrative which seemed to favour the OBCs and others who were deprived of their political rights by the powerful upper castes. While the Nation faced social upheaval, the BJP which was supporting the Vishwanath Pratap Singh government at the Centre, decided to counter the political impact; the then party president, Lal Krishan Advani took an individual decision of launching his Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra with the late Pramod Mahajan as his companion.

The objective of the Yatra was to somehow bridge the differences which were creeping up in the Indian society and allow religion to be supreme. Over the years, the BJP gained by playing its Kamandal card as against the Mandal card but a stage has been reached where OBCs are once again trying to snatch the political narrative and assert themselves. Therefore, Bhagwat has stated that in the eyes of God, all castes were equal and God does not discriminate between human beings since all of them were the same for him. The extension of this doctrine is that even the nature does not view things in any kind of a discriminatory manner.

The sun, wind, earth, water and everything were the same for every living entity. However, it is the political intentions that need to be interpreted keeping in mind the present context. Samajwadi Party leader, Swami Prasad Mauraya recently was critical of Tulsidas’s Ram Charitra Manas and said that it discriminated against certain sections of society. The late Baba Saheb Ambedkar too was of the opinion that the caste system as it exists today was because of the Brahminical supremacy which had resulted in the fragmentation of society on narrow lines. Originally, the system was based on the profession which was pursued and it was never meant to be hereditary. Vested interests took over and certain sections derived the advantage at the cost of others.

However, it also needs to be understood that the affirmative action which is offered in our system has to be reviewed in order to extend the benefits to those who have not been assisted. Certain families over the years by taking the benefits of the existing system have gained multiple times. Opponents of the RSS have their opinion on this issue and wonder why the Sangh has so far never had a Dalit or an OBC as its chief. Barring Prof. Rajinder Singh “Rajju Bhaiya’’, who was a Rajput, all the Sarsangchalaks have been Brahmins. Bhagwat may have articulated his thesis well, but the RSS is also worried about many fringe groups that have come up, over whom the Sangh has no control. They were diluting the RSS influence and setting an agenda which was crossing the Laxman Rekha. Bhagwat must ensure that his thinking gets percolated till the last worker of the Sangh and what he believes in, helps to transform our society rather than dividing it on caste and religious lines.